Nintendo names Tatusmi Kimishima as president

Nintendo has named Tatsumi Kimishima as its new president, following the demise of former company head Satoru Iwata in July.

Before being named as Nintendo's new president, Tokyo-born Tatsumi Kimishima was educated at Hitotsubashi University's Faculty of Law and began his career in 1973 at the Sanwa Bank. After an impressive 27 years at the company, Kimishima made the surprising leap to gaming by becoming representative director of The Pokémon Company. In 2002 he was appointed director at Nintendo of America, and later chair of the company. A sideways shuffle later, and Kimishima was managing director of Nintendo of Japan. Now, he's president and his first role is a major one: overseeing what Nintendo describes as a 'large-scale revision of the organisational structure of the company.'

This reorganisation, Nintendo has explained, includes some directorial role ranges - chief among these being the appointment of Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto as Technology and Creative Fellows respectively. New to the org chart, a Fellow is described by Nintendo as 'an individual selected from among the Representative Directors who has advanced knowledge and extensive experience, and holds the role of providing advice and guidance regarding organisational operations in a specialised area.'

Other changes at the company include the appointment of Shigeyuki Takahashi as supervisor of the general affairs division and head of the quality assurance department, Satoshi Yamato as head of the advertising department, and Shinya Takahashi as general manager of the company's entertainment planning and development division. Many of these responsibilities were previously held by Kimishima himself.

Nintendo is currently struggling to keep up with its rivals Sony and Microsoft, having found initial reception to its Wii U console soft. The company has recently relaxed its previous ban on mobile gaming, arranged to build theme-park rides featuring its intellectual property, and is currently working on a next-generation device known only as the Nintendo NX.